Chesapeake Bay - Get Involved

There are many ways that you can get involved to help restore Chesapeake Bay.
Here we provide a few examples, but encourage you to visit some of the other excellent websites that will help you make a difference.

A few examples of how you can get involved:

• Reduce or stop fertilizing your lawn and garden. If you want to fertilize your lawn, autumn is the most appropriate time for cool season grasses.
• Look for ways to filter run-off, such as directing drains and gutters into vegetated areas.
• Plant native trees and plants along your neighborhood stream to increase the riparian buffer, thereby decreasing the amount of unfiltered storm water running into the stream.
• Maintain your septic system and if possible. Replace with a more advanced system that has nitrogen removal capabilities.
• Reduce your use of electricity and automobiles. Nitrogen oxide released from vehicles and power plants deposits on the Bays watershed, eventually washing into the Bay and stimulating algal blooms.
• Hold a neighborhood cleanup to remove trash from the streets and stream banks before it enters the Bay.

More information at the following websites:

• Chesapeake Bay Program
• Chesapeake Bay Recovery Partnership
• Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
• Chesapeake Bay Foundation
• Virginia Department of Environmental Quality